Ezekiel · The Book in Four Peaks

The Cast · who is who in Ezekiel

Keep the players straight

Ezekiel is the most cinematic book in the prophets. It runs from a storm-wrapped throne over the exiles to a river of healing pouring out of God's house, and along the way God gives a nation of stone a new heart and breathes a dead army back onto its feet. This study climbs its four highest peaks. The index tags the book throne, judgment, and restoration.

The LORD on the Throne

the glory of the LORD

The figure above the storm, seated on a sapphire throne and wrapped in rainbow light, the weighty glory of God.

The Glory

Ezekiel

“God strengthens”

The priest-prophet in Babylon, called son of man, who sees the visions and falls on his face before the glory.

The Seer

The Living Creatures

wheels within wheels

The four-faced cherubim and the eye-covered wheels that carry the throne wherever the Spirit goes.

The Chariot

The Heart of Stone

to be removed

The old, unresponsive heart of the exiles that God promises to take out and replace with a heart of flesh.

The Old Heart

The Dry Bones

the whole house of Israel

A valley of scattered bones, the picture of a nation that feels dead, waiting for the breath of God.

The Valley

The Returning Glory

coming from the east

The presence that left the temple in judgment and comes back from the east, the whole earth shining with it.

The Return

The Temple River

water to swim in

The stream from under the temple threshold that deepens as it runs, bringing life and healing wherever it flows.

The River

Who is teaching: the colored dot beside each lettered point below shows which IHOPKC teacher it came from. Points marked ESV text are the study's plain reading where the index carries no verse-level match. Mike Bickle Gary Wiens ESV text

Ezekiel · The Book in Four PeaksPeak I · 1 of 4

Peak I · Chapter 1

The Throne Above the Storm

Ezekiel 1:26–28

And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.Ezekiel 1:26 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 5 exact refs for Ezekiel 1:26 · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (God's Throne, The Perfection of Beauty)

Kid mode on · simpler words

A.Ezekiel is a priest in exile by a canal in Babylon when the sky opens. A great storm cloud rolls in, and inside it are four living creatures, each with four faces, moving beside wheels full of eyes that go wherever the Spirit goes.Ezekiel is a priest far from home in Babylon when the sky opens up. A huge storm cloud rolls in, and inside it are four living creatures, each with four faces, moving beside wheels full of eyes that go wherever the Spirit goes.

Mike Bickle

Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.Ezekiel 1:28 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 3 exact refs for Ezekiel 1:28 · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Rainbow God of Tender Mercy, Session 09)

B.Above all of it is a throne like sapphire, and on the throne a figure with the appearance of a man, glowing like fire and wrapped in a rainbow. This, Ezekiel says, was the likeness of the glory of the LORD. He falls on his face.Above everything is a throne like blue sapphire, and on the throne a figure that looks like a man, glowing like fire and wrapped in a rainbow. This, Ezekiel says, was the likeness of the glory of the LORD. He falls on his face.

Mike Bickle

The first peak fixes the whole book above the chaos. Before a word of judgment or comfort, Ezekiel is shown a throne rolling over the wreckage of exile, a God who travels with His people all the way into Babylon. Everything else in the book happens under that throne.The first peak fixes the whole book above the chaos. Before a word of judgment or comfort, Ezekiel is shown a throne rolling over the wreckage of exile, a God who travels with His people all the way to Babylon. Everything else in the book happens under that throne.

Sources Mike Bickle / IHOPKC on the throne vision of Ezekiel 1. Ezekiel 1:26 returned 5 exact matches, 1:28 returned 3.Index tags for Ezekiel: throne, judgment, restoration · ESV

Ezekiel · The Book in Four PeaksPeak II · 2 of 4

Peak II · Chapter 36

A New Heart

Ezekiel 36:26–27

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.Ezekiel 36:26 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 3 exact refs for Ezekiel 36:26 · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (How to Walk According to the Spirit ROG06)

Kid mode on · simpler words

C.To exiles who feel dead inside, God makes a surgeon's promise. I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.To exiles who feel dead inside, God makes a surgeon's promise. I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put inside you. I will take out the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Mike Bickle

And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.Ezekiel 36:27 · ESV

✓ 5578 · Ezekiel 36 is indexed under the restoration tag · 36:27 is read here from the ESV text (36:26 carries the exact matches)

D.Then He goes further. I will put My Spirit within you, He says, and cause you to walk in My ways. The change He promises goes deeper than better behavior pressed on from outside, a new heart and His own Spirit placed within.Then He goes even further. I will put My Spirit inside you, He says, and help you walk in My ways. The change He promises goes deeper than just better behavior from the outside, a new heart and His own Spirit placed within.

Mike Bickle

The second peak is the gospel in advance. Six hundred years before Pentecost, God tells a defeated people that the cure for their sin runs deeper than rules. He will do heart surgery, take out the stone, put in flesh, and place His own Spirit inside them to make obedience possible.The second peak is the gospel ahead of time. Six hundred years before Pentecost, God tells a beaten-down people that the cure for their sin runs deeper than rules. He will do heart surgery, take out the stone, put in a real heart, and place His own Spirit inside them to make obeying possible.

Sources Mike Bickle / IHOPKC on the new-heart promise of Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36:26 returned 3 exact matches; 36:27 is read from the ESV text under the restoration tag.Index tags for Ezekiel 36: throne, judgment, restoration · ESV

Ezekiel · The Book in Four PeaksPeak III · 3 of 4

Peak III · Chapter 37

The Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:3, 5, 10

And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.”Ezekiel 37:3 · ESV

✓ 5578 · the dry-bones vision is indexed under the restoration tag · ch 37 is read here from the ESV text (no verse-level exact match on these verses)

Kid mode on · simpler words

E.God sets Ezekiel down in a valley full of dry bones and asks a hard question. Son of man, can these bones live? Ezekiel gives the only honest answer a person can give in front of that much death: O Lord GOD, You know.God sets Ezekiel down in a valley full of dry bones and asks a hard question. Son of man, can these bones live? Ezekiel gives the only honest answer a person can give in front of that much death: O Lord GOD, You know.

ESV text

And the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.Ezekiel 37:10 · ESV

✓ 5578 · the resurrection scene is read from the ESV text under the book's restoration tag

F.Then God tells him to prophesy to the bones. There is a rattling, bone joining to bone, then sinew and flesh, and finally breath. They live and stand on their feet, an exceedingly great army. These bones, God says, are the whole house of Israel, dead and coming back.Then God tells him to speak God's word to the bones. There is a rattling, bone joining to bone, then muscle and skin, and finally breath. They come alive and stand on their feet, a huge army. These bones, God says, are the whole house of Israel, dead and coming back.

ESV text

The third peak is the most famous picture of resurrection in the Old Testament. A people who had given up, who kept saying our bones are dried up and our hope is gone, are shown their own future as a battlefield of corpses standing back up. What looks past saving is exactly where God loves to breathe.The third peak is the most famous picture of resurrection in the Old Testament. A people who had given up, who kept saying our bones are dried up and our hope is gone, are shown their own future as a field of dead bodies standing back up. What looks past saving is exactly where God loves to breathe.

Sources Ezekiel 37 is read from the ESV text under the book's restoration tag; the index returned no verse-level exact match on the dry-bones verses, though the vision is central to the book's restoration theme.Index tags for Ezekiel 37: throne, judgment, restoration · ESV

Ezekiel · The Book in Four PeaksPeak IV · 4 of 4

Peak IV · Chapters 43, 47

The Glory Returns, and the River

Ezekiel 43:2; 47:9, 12

And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory.Ezekiel 43:2 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 2 exact refs for Ezekiel 43:2 · Gary Wiens (The New Jerusalem, Session 13) · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC

Kid mode on · simpler words

G.The book that watched the glory leave the temple gets to watch it come home. Ezekiel sees the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east, its sound like many waters, and the whole earth shining with it.The book that watched God's glory leave the temple gets to watch it come home. Ezekiel sees the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east, its sound like rushing water, and the whole earth shining with it.

Gary Wiens

On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.Ezekiel 47:12 · ESV

✓ 5578 exact match · 1 exact ref for Ezekiel 47:12 · Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Last Things Scriptures)

H.And from under the door of the new temple flows a river. It starts ankle deep and keeps rising, ankles, knees, waist, until it is water to swim in. Wherever the river goes, everything lives.And from under the door of the new temple flows a river. It starts at your ankles and keeps rising, ankles, knees, waist, until it is deep enough to swim in. Wherever the river goes, everything lives.

Mike Bickle

I.On both banks grow trees whose fruit never fails and whose leaves are for healing. The book that opened in exile ends with a river of life running out of God's house into a healed world. John borrows this exact picture for the last chapter of Revelation.On both banks grow trees whose fruit never runs out and whose leaves are for healing. The book that started in exile ends with a river of life running out of God's house into a healed world. John borrows this exact picture for the last chapter of Revelation.

Mike Bickle

Ezekiel runs from a storm-wrapped throne to a river of healing. In between, God promises a heart transplant for a nation of stone and breathes an army up out of a valley of bones. The glory that left the temple comes home from the east, and life pours out the door into the world. This is peak four of the major prophets, with only Daniel to come.Ezekiel runs from a storm-wrapped throne to a river of healing. In between, God promises a heart transplant for a nation of stone and breathes an army up out of a valley of bones. The glory that left the temple comes home from the east, and life pours out the door into the world. This is peak four of the major prophets, with only Daniel to come.

Sources Gary Wiens (The New Jerusalem, Session 13) and Mike Bickle / IHOPKC (Last Things Scriptures) on the returning glory and the temple river. Ezekiel 43:2 returned 2 exact matches, 47:12 returned 1.Index tags for Ezekiel 43 through 47: throne, judgment, restoration · ESV

Ezekiel today · modern pictures

What each peak looks like now

Ezekiel in the language of now, the book that runs from a throne over the storm to a river of healing. Each card carries the verse it grows from.

Ezekiel 1:28

A throne over the storm

Today it looks likeThe steadying sense, in the middle of a life that is spinning, that someone is still on the throne over it all, that the chaos is not the highest thing in the room.

Ezekiel 36:26

The heart transplant

Today it looks likeThe change that runs deeper than willpower, a person who stops forcing themselves to fake good and finds they genuinely want it now, new desires instead of gritted teeth.

Ezekiel 37:5

Life into dead things

Today it looks likeThe comeback nobody predicted, the dead marriage or dead faith or dead career that stands back up, breath entering the very thing everyone had written off.

Ezekiel 47:9

The river that deepens

Today it looks likeThe life with God that starts ankle deep and keeps getting deeper the longer you stay in it, out past the point where your feet can touch the bottom.

Ezekiel 47:12

Leaves for healing

Today it looks likeThe community whose ordinary life quietly heals the people around it, fruit that feeds the hungry and leaves that mend, a place where broken people get well.

These Ezekiel parallels are the study's own application; the verses are ESV and the teaching provenance is marked on each verse above.

Source notes

Provenance was pulled from the local IHOPKC Bible Commentary annotation studio at http://127.0.0.1:5578/api/verse/<ref>, exact-confidence matches only. The teacher names and exact-ref counts beside each verse come from that query; Ezekiel is tagged throne, judgment, and restoration. Where the index carries no verse-level match (36:27, all of ch 37, 47:9), points are marked ESV text as the study's plain reading. The studio runs locally and its links resolve only on that machine. This study climbs Ezekiel's four highest peaks, not every chapter of a 48-chapter book. Scripture ESV.